Ooltewah High School defeated Hixson High School in a lopsided 2-0 match on Tuesday evening.
Ooltewah scored the opening goal as Jada Tharp sliced between a couple of Wildcat defenders before her shot beat Hixson’s goalkeeper at the near the post.
After the goal Hixson made a keeper change brining on junior Arielle Hutchinson. Hutchinson has been battling injuries over the last couple weeks, but Hixson Head Coach Ashley Beverly wanted the trainer to clear Hutchinson before she participated in the match.
Ooltewah dominated the first half registering 10 shots to Hixson’s one attempt.
The second half was identical to the first half as the Owls had the majority of the possession and chances.
Hutchinson made several big saves to keep the Wildcats in the match including a one-on-one stop against Ooltewah’s junior captain Emily Fischer. Fischer received a through ball that split the Hixson center backs and was in on goal, but was denied by Hutchinson. Hutchinson finished with eight saves.
The Owl’s relentless press finally gave the visitors their cushion goal in the 69’ minute. Fischer’s initial shot was saved by Hutchinson and went behind for a corner kick. The cross bounced around before finding Tharp at the top of the box. Her side-footed shot flew into the roof of the net to give Ooltewah a 2-0 lead.
“She (Tharp) works very hard,” said Ooltewah Head Coach Rick Adolph. “It’s good for her to get a couple of goals and get some more confidence; but she’s done really well for us this year.”
One thing that Coach Adolph wants his team to improve on is their thought process.
“It’s encouraging that you see some thought going on,” Coach Adolph said. “We want to keep improving that technique and execution, but it will come with time. We are young and hopefully we’ll continue to develop that over the next few years.”
Ooltewah’s district tournament starts this Saturday.
Hixson has one more tune up game before district play starts as they host Bradley Central on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Scoring Summary
OOLTEWAH 1 1 – 2
HIXSON 0 0 - 0
Shots:
Ooltewah: 15 (11)
Hixson: 2 (1)
Contact Parker Tuerff @xzn858@mocs.utc.edu